Difference Between Diet Coke and Coke Zero

Soft Drinks date back to the 18th century when people used to drink fruit juices. Aerated drinks came into existence shortly after the 19th century.

Many people in the world never experience a day without carbonated drinks. Statistics say, on average 60 percentage of kids in the world and 50 per cent of adults in the world used to drink aerated beverages on any given day.

The companies which manufacture soft drinks also have a lot of competition. Many companies are coming up with many customer-luring marketing strategies and different products as well.

The aspect that people are constantly worried about is the health factor. So, Coca-Cola introduced no-sugar coke and made it healthy and marketed the same.

Coco-Cola came up with 2 healthy soft drinks. They are called Diet Coke and Coke Zero.

Key Takeaways

1. Diet Coke has a distinct flavor profile, formulated to taste different from regular Coke, while Coke Zero is designed to mimic the taste of regular Coke without the calories closely.
2. Diet Coke uses aspartame as its primary sweetener, while Coke Zero uses a blend of aspartame and acesulfame potassium.
3. Diet Coke and Coke Zero contain zero calories and no sugar, catering to consumers seeking a low-calorie alternative to regular Coke.

Diet Coke vs Coke Zero

Diet Coke is a popular choice for reducing calorie and sugar intake. Coke Zero has a flavor profile closer to regular Coke than Diet Coke. Its main sweeteners are aspartame and acesulfame potassium, containing caffeine and phosphoric acid. It is a sugar-free, low-calorie option for people.

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Comparison Table

Parameter of Comparison	Diet Coke	Coke Zero
Origin and Market Existence	Diet Coke came into the market in the year 1983.	Coke Zero came into the market in 2006
Main Difference	The Chemical used in diet coke is Citric Acid which gives it a light taste.	The Chemical used in Diet Coke is Sodium Citrate.
Main Ingredients	1. Carbonated Water 2. Caramel Colour 3. Aspartame 4. Phosphoric Acid 5. Potassium Benzoate 6. Natural Colours 7. Citric Acid 8. Caffeine	1. Carbonated Water 2. Caramel Colour 3. Aspartame 4. Phosphoric Acid 5. Potassium Benzoate 6. Acesulfame Potassium 7. Potassium Citrate 8. Caffeine
Caffeine Content	Diet Coke has higher levels of caffeine	Coke Zero has lower levels of caffeine
Market standing	Diet coke is very popular among people, Still stands strong.	Coke Zero was almost knocked out in 2016, and it is not as popular as many of Coca-Cola’s beverages.

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What is Diet Coke?

Diet Coke is a Calorie, Sugar-Free soft drink manufactured and distributed by a company called Coco-Cola. It was introduced in the year 1983 in the United States of America.

It is to be mentioned that, right from the beginning of Coca-Cola’s existence in the world in 1886, Diet Coke was the first new brand introduced by the company. Diet Coke was introduced to counter its rival’s no-sugar drink, Pepsi.

Diet Coke brought a sensational change in people’s mindsets. Anyone can drink it; even a diabetic patient can drink it as it is sugar-free.

Initially, saccharin was used as a sweetener in the drink. Later Aspartame came to the rescue and made the drink 100% aspartame mixed sweetener.

The fountain dispensers, even these days, have saccharin in them to increase the shelf life of the drink. The prime aspect of Diet coke is the drink’s taste was determined for every region based on the customer’s preference.

There are, however, health concerns with diet coke. The usage of additives causes long-term health problems.

Though the drink is labelled and it is A -Sugar drink, this brings a psychological need for other ways of sugar consumption in the body that it cannot balance.

Diet coke later changed the sweetener additive to sucralose, but not to any effect.

 

What is Coke Zero?

Coke Zero is a no-sugar soft drink manufactured and distributed by a company called Coca-Cola. In certain countries, Coke Zero is also called as Coco-Cola – no Sugar.

This drink was introduced in the year 2006. Initially, it was also marketed as Zero Calorie Drink.

The launch of Coke Zero was the largest in the last 22 years of, the product launch in the year 2006. Unlike Diet Coke, Coke Zero has the same flavour and taste throughout the world.

US Food and Drug Administration had banned a particular substance called Sodium Cyclamate, an inexpensive artificial sweetener.

This substance is found to be used in Coke Zero which is distributed in a few other countries like Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and a few other Central American countries.

The Coke Zero had a unique name, a nick called ‘Bloke Coke’. This is because of the marketing strategy used by Coca-Cola. Initially, Coke Zero was marketed targetting the young males of the country.

The marketing verbatim changed from region to region. While they used the word diet in the UK, they used Calorie-Free in the US.

Coke Zero lost its popularity in the year 2016, and many reformations were made and introduced another drink called Coco-Cola Zero Sugar.

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Main Differences Between Diet Coke and Coke Zero

1. Out of all the products, the premium versions of Coca-Cola, which played with the word diet, gave them all the rewards. The main difference between Diet Coke and Coke Zero is its chemicals and taste; Diet Coke has Citric Acid while Coke Zero has Sodium Citrate.
2. The year of origin is also to be noted; Diet Coke came into the market in 1983 to counter Pepsi’s diet drinks. Coke Zero came into the market in 2006.
3. Diet Coke and Coke Zero are meant to be no-sugar and calorie-free. However, there is a difference in their ingredients. Diet Coke does not have Acesulfame Potassium and Potassium Citrate, which Coke Zero has. The primary taste enhancers of the latter.
4. The caffeine levels of Diet coke are higher compared to Coke Zero.
5. Coke Zero s still popular with its calorie-free trust by the customers; however, Coke Zero lost its charm within 10 years of its market existence.

References

1. https://www.dietcoke.com/
2. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/news/the-extraordinary-story-of-how-diet-coke-came-to-be